Impact investment firm Inspire Investing has expanded its suite of biblically responsible ETFs by launching a fund that targets firms listed outside the US.
The new launch brings the number of ETFs within Inspire Investing’s biblical values suite to five.
The Inspire International ESG ETF (WWJD US) has listed on NYSE Arca and comes with an expense ratio of 0.80%.
The fund is linked to the proprietary Inspire International ESG Index which draws its constituents from a universe of large-cap stocks (greater than $5 billion market capitalization) from international developed and emerging markets.
Stock selection is based upon Inspire Investing’s Impact Score methodology which filters publicly available data points to identify companies that adhere to the Certified Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI) standards, an industry benchmark measuring alignment with biblical values.
The model goes further by ranking eligible companies according to their positive effects on customers, communities, workplaces, and the world.
Firms that rank highly according to the methodology are providing a high positive impact on society and include companies delivering clean water projects, working to prevent human trafficking, distributing Bibles, and providing humanitarian relief for refugees, among others.
The index selects 150 of the top-ranked securities, aiming for an 80/20 mix between developed and emerging market stocks. Constituents are equally weighted and the index is rebalanced quarterly.
Robert Netzly, CEO of Inspire Investing, commented, “The launch of the Inspire International ESG ETF helps bolster the current biblical ETF investment line-up by providing a way to invest in international companies without compromising on biblical values.
“We are incredibly humbled at the outcry of support from our investors and advisors that are choosing to align their investments with their faith. We are here to serve them and increasing the available investment options is one way we can do that.”
Inspire Investing offers a further four biblically responsible ETFs which collectively house $450 million in assets under management. Each is driven by Inspire Investing’s Impact Score methodology.
The $75m Inspire 100 ETF (BIBL US) targets 100 US large-caps, the $95m Inspire Small Mid Cap Impact ETF (ISMD US) targets 500 US mid and small-caps, and the $150m Inspire Global Hope ETF (BLES US) targets 400 large-cap companies worldwide. The $130m Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF (IBD US) is composed of 250 investment-grade short-term and intermediate-term corporate bonds issued by US large-caps that have performed well according to the Impact Score methodology
To further boost their funds’ social impact credentials, Inspire Investing has pledged to donate at least 50% of its corporate profits generated from management fees to support ministry projects around the globe.